Important Facts For Prelims
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
- 09 Jul 2022
- 2 min read
Why in News?
The Union Home Minister paid tribute to Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee on his birth anniversary.
Who was Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee?
- Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was born in a Bengali Brahmin family on the 6th July, 1901, in Calcutta.
- He was an Indian politician, barrister, and academician who served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.
- At the age of 33, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee became the youngest vice-chancellor of Calcutta University in 1934.
- During His term as Vice-Chancellor, Rabindranath Tagore delivered the university convocation address in Bengali for the first time, and the Indian vernacular was introduced as a subject for the highest examination.
- He demanded the partition of Bengal in 1946 to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan.
- He also opposed a failed bid for a united but independent Bengal made in 1947 by Sarat Bose, the brother of Subhas Chandra Bose, and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a Bengali Muslim politician.
- He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the predecessor of the modern-day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- In 1953, to protest against the special status given to Kashmir he tried to enter Kashmir without seeking permission and was arrested. He died in mysterious circumstances during detention.
